Network Policy Server Management with Administration Tools

You can use this topic to learn about the tools that you can use to manage your NPSs.

After you install NPS, you can administer NPSs:

• Locally, by using the NPS Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, the static NPS console in Administrative Tools, Windows PowerShell commands, or the Network Shell (Netsh) commands for NPS.
• From a remote NPS, by using the NPS MMC snap-in, the Netsh commands for NPS, the Windows PowerShell commands for NPS, or Remote Desktop Connection.
• From a remote workstation, by using Remote Desktop Connection in combination with other tools, such as the NPS MMC or Windows PowerShell.

The following sections provide instructions on how to manage your local and remote NPSs.

Configure the Local NPS by Using the NPS Console

After you have installed NPS, you can use this procedure to manage the local NPS by using the NPS MMC.

Administrative Credentials

To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group.

To configure the local NPS by using the NPS console

1. In Server Manager, click Tools, and then click Network Policy Server. The NPS console opens.

2. In the NPS console, click NPS (Local). In the details pane, choose either Standard Configuration or Advanced Configuration, and then do one of the following based upon your selection:

   • If you choose Standard Configuration, select a scenario from the list, and then follow the instructions to start a configuration wizard.
   • If you choose Advanced Configuration, click the arrow to expand Advanced Configuration options, and then review and configure the available options based on the NPS functionality that you want - RADIUS server, RADIUS proxy, or both.

Manage Multiple NPSs by Using the NPS MMC Snap-in

You can use this procedure to manage the local NPS and multiple remote NPSs by using the NPS MMC snap-in.

Before performing the procedure below, you must install NPS on the local computer and on remote computers.

Depending on network conditions and the number of NPSs you manage by using the NPS MMC snap-in, response of the MMC snap-in might be slow. In addition, NPS configuration traffic is sent over the network during a remote administration session by using the NPS snap-in. Ensure that your network is physically secure and that malicious users do not have access to this network traffic.

Administrative Credentials

To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group.

To manage multiple NPSs by using the NPS snap-in

1. To open the MMC, run Windows PowerShell as an Administrator. In Windows PowerShell, type mmc, and then press ENTER. The Microsoft Management Console opens.
2. In the MMC, on the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in. The Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog box opens.
3. In Add or Remove Snap-ins, in Available snap-ins, scroll down the list, click Network Policy Server, and then click Add. The Select Computer dialog box opens.
4. In Select Computer, verify that Local computer (the computer on which this console is running) is selected, and then click OK. The snap-in for the local NPS is added to the list in Selected snap-ins.
5. In Add or Remove Snap-ins, in Available snap-ins, ensure that Network Policy Server is still selected, and then click Add. The Select Computer dialog box opens again.
6. In Select Computer, click Another computer, and then type the IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the remote NPS that you want to manage by using the NPS snap-in. Optionally, you can click Browse to peruse the directory for the computer that you want to add. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to add more NPSs to the NPS snap-in. When you have added all the NPSs you want to manage, click OK.
8. To save the NPS snap-in for later use, click File, and then click Save. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the hard disk location where you want to save the file, type a name for your Microsoft Management Console (.msc) file, and then click Save.

Manage an NPS by Using Remote Desktop Connection

You can use this procedure to manage a remote NPS by using Remote Desktop Connection.

By using Remote Desktop Connection, you can remotely manage your NPS Servers. You can also remotely manage NPSs from any current Windows client OS.

You can use Remote Desktop connection to manage multiple NPSs by using one of two methods.

1. Create a Remote Desktop connection to each of your NPSs individually.
2. Use Remote Desktop to connect to one NPS, and then use the NPS MMC on that server to manage other remote servers. For more information, see the previous section Manage Multiple NPSs by Using the NPS MMC Snap-in.

Administrative Credentials

To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the NPS.

To manage an NPS by using Remote Desktop Connection

1. On each NPS that you want to manage remotely, in Server Manager, select Local Server. In the Server Manager details pane, view the Remote Desktop setting, and do one of the following.
   1. If the value of the Remote Desktop setting is Enabled, you do not need to perform some of the steps in this procedure. Skip down to Step 4 to start configuring Remote Desktop User permissions.
   2. If the Remote Desktop setting is Disabled, click the word Disabled. The System Properties dialog box opens on the Remote tab.
2. In Remote Desktop, click Allow remote connections to this computer. The Remote Desktop Connection dialog box opens. Do one of the following.
   1. To customize the network connections that are allowed, click Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, and then configure the settings that you want to allow.
   2. To enable Remote Desktop Connection for all network connections on the computer, click OK.
3. In System Properties, in Remote Desktop, decide whether to enable Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication, and make your selection.
4. Click Select Users. The Remote Desktop Users dialog box opens.
5. In Remote Desktop Users, to grant permission to a user to connect remotely to the NPS, click Add, and then type the user name for the user's account. Click OK.
6. Repeat step 5 for each user for whom you want to grant remote access permission to the NPS. When you're done adding users, click OK to close the Remote Desktop Users dialog box and OK again to close the System Properties dialog box.
7. To connect to a remote NPS that you have configured by using the previous steps, click Start, scroll down the alphabetical list and then click Windows Accessories, and click Remote Desktop Connection. The Remote Desktop Connection dialog box opens.
8. In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, in Computer, type the NPS name or IP address. If you prefer, click Options, configure additional connection options, and then click Save to save the connection for repeated use.
9. Click Connect, and when prompted provide user account credentials for an account that has permissions to log on to and configure the NPS.

Use Netsh NPS commands to manage an NPS

You can use commands in the Netsh NPS context to show and set the configuration of the authentication, authorization, accounting, and auditing database used both by NPS and the Remote Access service. Use commands in the Netsh NPS context to:

• Configure or reconfigure an NPS, including all aspects of NPS that are also available for configuration by using the NPS console in the Windows interface.
• Export the configuration of one NPS (the source server), including registry keys and the NPS configuration store, as a Netsh script.
• Import the configuration to another NPS by using a Netsh script and the exported configuration file from the source NPS.

You can run these commands from Command Prompt or from Windows PowerShell. You can also run netsh nps commands in scripts and batch files.

Administrative Credentials

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer.

To enter the Netsh NPS context on an NPS

1. Open Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.
2. Type netsh, and then press ENTER.
3. Type nps, and then press ENTER.
4. To view a list of available commands, type a question mark (?) and press ENTER.

For more information about Netsh NPS commands, see Netsh Commands for Network Policy Server in Windows Server 2008. These commands are still present in the latest releases of Windows Server and Windows 11, so you can use netsh in these environments, although using Windows PowerShell is recommended.

Use Windows PowerShell to manage NPSs

You can use Windows PowerShell commands to manage NPSs. For more information, see the following Windows PowerShell command reference topics.

• Network Policy Server (NPS) Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell. You can use these netsh commands in Windows Server 2012 R2 or later operating systems.
• NPS Module. You can use these netsh commands in Windows Server 2016 and later.

For more information about NPS administration, see Manage Network Policy Server (NPS).